October 21 – Manchester United’s Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo says he is ashamed of the government following reports that soldiers opened fire on protesters in an area of Lagos on Tuesday.
Following Manchester United’s 2-1 Champions League win over PSG on Tuesday, when he was an unused substitute, Ighalo said in a video message on Twitter that while he rarely talks about politics, he could not stay silent about events back home in Nigeria where protests have been taking place on a daily basis against extortion, harassment, torture and murders.
The police unit involved was disbanded on October 11 but the protests have persisted and at least two people were shot on Tuesday.
The Nigerian Army says no soldiers were at the scene of the shooting but Ighalo, born in Lagos, fumed: “The Nigerian government, you guys are a shame to the world for killing your own citizens, sending military to the streets to kill unarmed protesters because they are protesting for their own rights? It’s uncalled for”
“You people will be remembered in history as the first government to send the military to the city to start killing their own citizens. I am ashamed of this government, we are tired of you guys and we can’t take this anymore.”
Ighalo won 35 caps for Nigeria before retiring from international football after last year’s Africa Cup of Nations and his video was shared to millions.
“They will keep killing if the world don’t talk about this,” he added.
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